The Novlr alternative with maps and a character builder
Novlr is a well-made writing studio, with a free plan, goals, a planning grid and exports in almost every format. If you also want a map maker, a guided character builder and a card storyboard on the same desk as your draft, Inkling is worth a look.
After she left home at 18 and missed her mother’s last year, Nora Vance came to believe that “if she stays, she’ll disappear here too.” On the surface, she wants to fix up the diner, sell it, and get back to the city. Nora Vance's real journey is to forgive herself and let this town be home - and the story is the crucible that forces it.
| Inkling | Novlr | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A writing desk: your draft, Storyboard, character builder and goals in one place, with maps of your story's world. | A writing studio for creative writers, built and partly owned by writers, with notes, a planning grid and goals. |
| Planning | A freeform Storyboard of scene, character, place and idea cards you drag into order and connect with arrows. | A planning grid built from your notes, for outlining arcs and plot threads. |
| Characters | A guided character builder that asks about the wound, the lie, the want and the need, with a character sheet you can export. | Notes for characters, research and lore, pinned beside the manuscript. |
| Maps | A map maker for realms and cities. Name your places, tag the map to a story, and open it beside the page. | No map maker among its listed features. |
| Word goals | A word count by a date, with daily pace, a streak, and an optional email nudge. | Goals, streaks and nudges, writing sprints and detailed writing analytics. |
| Editing help | No grammar or style checker. | A built-in proofreader and an advanced grammar and style checker on Studio. |
| Generated help | An optional generator for “Previously…” recaps of your own words, covers and portraits. It never writes your story, and one switch in Setup turns it off. | None. Novlr says it has no writing or generating tools of that kind, and never will. |
| Offline | Not built for offline writing. It needs a connection to save. | If your connection drops, it keeps your work in the browser and syncs when you're back, though Novlr advises against long offline stretches. |
| Devices | Runs in your browser and installs as an app on phone or computer. | A web app for any browser. Save it to your phone or tablet home screen; no download needed. |
| Sharing | Invite-only peer review: a private link, and your reader sends back a note of feedback. No co-writing. | Comments, link and snippet sharing, and writing groups. |
| Export | Word, plain text, a Google Doc of the whole project, print or PDF, and a booklet PDF for print on demand. No EPUB. | Word, PDF, EPUB, ODT and RTF, plus a manuscript submission layout for agents. Studio adds Google Drive and Dropbox backups. |
| Price | 14 days to experience the full writing desk, build worlds, and be creative. No card to start. Then $9 a month (or $72 a year for Founding Writers). | A free plan with 2 projects. Starter $8 a month and Studio $16 a month, billed yearly. Lifetime Studio $499 once. |
Last checked October 2026. Novlr details come from its pricing page, about page, offline help and changelog. Plans change, so check their site for current pricing.
Honestly, Novlr is a lovely place to write
Novlr does a lot well. It has a real free plan, a grammar and style checker on Studio, writing groups and courses, and it exports to Word, PDF, EPUB, ODT and RTF, which Inkling does not match. If your connection drops, it keeps your work in the browser until you are back. It promises never to add generated writing, and it is partly owned by the writers who use it. Those are good reasons to choose it.
Your world, beside the page
Novlr keeps your world in notes. Inkling gives it tools: a map maker for realms and cities, and Cast & places and Maps panels that open beside the chapter you are writing. Forgot which side of the river the harbor sits on? Check the map and keep going. Our guide to a map for your novel shows how writers use one while drafting.
Characters built from the inside
Inkling's character builder asks the questions an arc turns on: the wound that shaped them, the lie they believe, what they want and what they need. Your answers become a profile you can export, tied to the story they belong to.
Plan on cards, not in a grid
Novlr plans in a grid. Inkling's Storyboard is a freeform board: a card for each scene, character, place or idea, dragged into the order the story runs, with arrows to follow a subplot from start to finish.
Which should you pick?
If you want a free plan, a grammar checker, EPUB export or a writing app with no generator at all, pick Novlr. If you write fantasy or anything with a world worth drawing, and want maps, a guided character builder and a storyboard beside your draft, try Inkling for 14 days, no card. Compare more options in our honest roundup of the best novel-writing apps, or see pricing first.
Common questions
Is Inkling cheaper than Novlr?
Not always. Novlr has a free plan with 2 projects, and its Starter plan is $8 a month billed yearly. Inkling has no lasting free plan: a 14-day trial with no card, then Plus at $9 a month. What the $9 buys is the map maker, the character builder and the Storyboard on the same desk as your draft. Prices as listed in October 2026.
Does Inkling have a free plan like Novlr?
No. Inkling has a 14-day free trial with up to 3 stories and 2 kept maps, and no card to start. When the trial ends, your work becomes read-only and nothing is deleted; you can export it to Google Docs at any time, and Plus keeps you writing.
Does Inkling write for me?
No. Inkling's optional generator writes a short “Previously…” recap of what you have already written, and can make covers and portraits. It never writes a sentence of your story, never trains on your writing, and one switch in Setup turns it off. Muse, the idea board, draws its sparks from Inkling's own lists and never reads your stories. If you want a tool with no generator at all, Novlr is one.
Can I move my novel from Novlr to Inkling?
Yes. Export your project from Novlr to Word, then paste the whole draft into Inkling: it splits into chapters at your chapter headings. Inkling cannot open a .docx file directly, so paste the text, upload a .txt or .md file, or bring in chapters you keep in Google Docs. Keep your Novlr export as a backup copy.
All of it. In one place.
This isn't five apps stitched together. Your storyboard, your cast, your maps, your covers, and the story itself all live on one desk, right beside the words. Nothing to sync between tools. No five separate subscriptions. Just everything a writer needs, finally in the same place.
Your whole writing desk, in one place
Start free today. Bring one story in, and see how much lighter it feels with everything beside it.